Pagina's

woensdag 6 april 2011

Nettle and wild garlic soup – brandnetel-daslooksoep (GF – SF)

Getting a blogging award is one great thing, the other thing is that Sophie named so much other inspiring bloggers and it's great to be in their company. Go and see for yourselves!

I’m always surfing for gluten free and other interesting food bloggers, most of the times I forget where I found them, but yesterday I read a recipe which used wild garlic and it inspired me to make this wonderful, beautiful green soup with nettles and wild garlic (or daslook we call it in Dutch).

Wild garlic or allium ursinum is one of the first edible wild greens, next to nettles and dandelion. They have a mild garlicky taste but you have to pick the leaves before the white flowers appear. You can use them in soups, stews but also in a pesto.

Spring greens are very healthy, they are cleansing and detoxing, so try to eat them at least 2 times a week now and do as I do: pick some young dandelion, wild garlic or goose grass and eat them while your walking or, to be sure no dogs used them before you, wash them first at home.

In Holland wild garlic is a legally protected plant, and very rare to find.
When I was a kid I always saw and smelled them in the Savelsbos in Zuid-Limburg, where I was camping with my parents. They grow in shady deciduous forests and a few years ago I found them here in the middle of Rotterdam! So now I, only once a year, allow myself to pick a few (20) leaves. When you don’t have wild garlic – daslook, you can use chives with a bit of garlic.

Put the onion and the potato together with the thyme, cream and broth in a stockpot and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meanwhile you wash and cut the wild garlic leaves coarsely; put them in the last 10 minutes.
You also wash the nettles thoroughly and blanch them in cooking water for 2 minutes. Drain them and cool immediately in ice cold water. Drain them again and puree them in a blender. Set aside.

When the potatoes are done, you puree the soup and then add the nettle puree. Mix well and heat up a little. Taste and add freshly ground pepper and some salt, if necessary.

The colour is beautifully green and it’s a real delicate soup, great when your adolescent comes home from school or when you get that afternoon dip. So no chocolate, but soup!!

Over mij

Since november 2007 celiac disease has been diagnosed with me and did I start with the gluten-free diet and lifestyle. I'm very interested in health and food issues. And besides, I Love Cooking. I think cooking is creating. I'm not content with the gluten free range of products in the shops in Holland, so I make most of the food myself. I think gluten free food must be healthy, real food, but above all very tasty. Also non-celiacs must (and they do!) enjoy my food.
I am 50 years old and I live, together with my son, in Rotterdam, Holland.***
Sinds november 2007 is bij mij coeliakie geconstateerd en ben ik begonnen met een glutenvrij dieet. Ik ben erg geïnteresseerd in gezondheid en voeding. Daarnaast ben ik gek op koken. Ik ben niet tevreden over het aanbod van glutenvrije artikelen in de winkels, dus maak ik vrijwel alles zelf. Glutenvrij eten moet lekker zijn, gezond en ook voor niet-coeliakers aantrekkelijk zijn.